Solution To a Rainy Day
by stella-pegasi
Summary: It had been raining for days, nerves were frazzled, but Sam Carter had a plan.


**Title: ****Solution to a Rainy Day **

**Author**: _stella_pegasi_

**Rating: **K +

**Genres: ** Friendship

**Word Count: **1877

**Spoilers: **None, occurs during Season 4

**Warnings:** Language

**Characters:** John Sheppard, Samantha Carter

**Summary:** It had been raining for days, nerves were frazzled, but Sam Carter had a plan.

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own them; I would have treated them better.

**Written for SGA_Saturday…Week Two Prompt: Rain.**

**Author's Notes: **There is a new community on LiveJournal called SGA_Saturday, where a new prompt is given on Saturday, with a week to post a story in response.

These stories willm for the most part, be short. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Solution to a Rainy Day<strong>

_by stella_pegasi_

It had rained for eleven straight days. The climatologists warned that New Atlantis was subject to monsoons and that the heavy rains could last for another seven to ten days, or longer. Nerves were frayed, numerous fights, among the scientists, as well as among the military, had broken out over the most mundane matters. The SF's were working on overtime to keep the melees to a minimum. Adding to the tension, gate activity was suspended because of an unknown pathogen that SGA-17 brought back from PX9-332.

Samantha Carter walked into the control room to speak to Chuck, and noticed that John Sheppard was on the balcony, standing next to the railing, in the rain.

Quietly, she asked Chuck, "How long has he been out there?"

"About fifteen minutes, colonel."

She gave Chuck a slight smile. "Could you have some towels brought to the control room, please?" Chuck flashed a quizzical look toward the colonel but answered in the affirmative. He then understood as he watched Colonel Carter join Sheppard on the rain-soaked balcony.

If he heard the doors slide open, Sheppard didn't react. As she walked toward him, she was thankful that at least the rain was warm, relentless, but warm. Quietly, she stood next to him, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence.

"You're getting wet, colonel." He drawled with a slight tone of sarcasm in his voice.

"You are wet, colonel, " she replied as sarcastically.

"Yeah, I noticed."

She took a deep breath, "Would you like to tell me why you've been standing in the rain for fifteen minutes?"

"Nothing better to do, might as well stand in the rain." He glanced at her, and chuckled, she was soaked, her blond hair plastered to her skull, rain dripping from her eyelashes. "You don't have anything better to do?"

"Well, colonel, when my chief of military operations doesn't have the sense to come in out of the rain, then there must be a good reason."

Sheppard rubbed his face with hands then ran his hands through his hair, flinging water that was lost in the downpour. He sighed, "I'm just exasperated; everyone is depressed from this fucking rain." He paused, realizing what he had said; he'd been careful not to cuss in her presence. "Sorry, Sam, I…"

She laughed, "Cuss away, John, I've been in the Air Force a long time, not offended. Besides, it seems to be appropriate for the current conditions, fucking rain is right."

Sheppard shook his head and laughed, "Colonel Samantha Carter, you never cease to amaze me."

She grinned, "Like to keep you on your toes, John; and that's hard to do, I've discovered."

He sighed, "Right before I can out here, I received a report from Lorne that a fight broke out between two Marines over something stupid, Dr. Blaise tried to break it up and he's now in the infirmary with, thankfully, nothing but a bruised nose and a black eye. Lorne had the SF's take the Marines to security lock-up, to join the other seven Marines and airmen who are confined there. I told Lorne to call muster; when I get them all together, I'm either going to kill them or threaten to, if they don't start behaving like soldiers. They're going to learn to keep their tempers in check."

She asked, "You keeping your temper in check by cooling off in the rain, John?"

An annoyed look crossed his face, "I…yeah, I guess you could say so. I mean, since we can't bleed off energy by getting the guys off world, then we have to do something. Lorne, Ronon, and I have been putting them through calisthenics and running them all over the base for the last several days, but that's not enough. They are restless, and only getting them out on missions is going to help with that."

"Yeah, I know; even McKay is complaining about the scientists. They're certainly used to being confined in closed labs for hours, but the rain is beginning to affect them as well. I just received a report of chess pieces flying through the air in botany." She chuckled, "The natives are restless, colonel."

"Not only the natives, me, too," Sheppard replied.

As Sam responded, "I'm there with you, John," Sheppard's COM activated. Lorne had the military personnel assembled in the large hanger on the Southeast Pier.

Sheppard and Carter left the rain behind and stepped into the dry control room, where the nearest tech handed them some dry towels. Sheppard laughed, "You a former boy scout, colonel."

She grinned, "No, girl scout."

He laughed in response, "No doubt you would have been an Eagle scout, if you had been. Gotta go, I'll report back later." He grabbed another dry towel as he started to walk off.

Sam called after him, "Colonel, change into a dry uniform before you see your troops, and do me a favor, try not to kill them."

Sheppard laughed, "Yes, ma'am."

As Sheppard moved out of earshot, leaving a trail of water across the gate room floor, Carter turned toward Chuck. "Get Zelenka and Parrish up here, and Sergeant Morris from the mess; I want to talk to them. Let Major Lorne know I want to see him after Colonel Sheppard's dismissed the troops, but tell him not to let the colonel know." Seeing the confusion on Chuck's face that the unusual combination of people she wanted to see, she grinned, "I have an idea."

~~ooOoo~~

Nearly eight hours had passed, since Sheppard had spoken to Carter on the balcony. He entered his quarters, stripping off his BDU shirt, and weapons belt, then silently asked Atlantis to bump up the room's ambient temperature, as he grabbed a fleece shirt. He hadn't been warm, since he got soaked that morning on the balcony.

He flopped down on his bed, still frustrated. He had chewed out his command for their behavior, knowing that he was just as likely to lose his temper as they were. The day had not gone well after that. Lorne had been assigned to something by Carter, and disappeared, leaving him to deal with the continuing dust-ups in the science department. The military contingent might be behaving better but the scientists were getting worse. He had yelled at Rodney to get his people in line, or he'd start throwing them in the holding cells, along with his own personnel. That had only made Rodney angrier and after a few heated words, Sheppard had walked out of Rodney's lab. Rodney's voice, still yelling at him, trailed him down the hall until he reached the transporter and made his escape.

Adding to his frustration was the fact he was hungry, but the mess hall had been closed for decontamination. Apparently, the med team had found traces of the unknown pathogen in the kitchen, and Dr. Keller had ordered the entire mess closed until it was thoroughly cleaned. They had been told the infirmary would re-open at 2000 hours.

He jumped up, grabbed a powerbar, consuming it in three bites, and then lay back down on his bunk. He had two hours before he could eat, so he decided he'd take a nap, and within a couple of minutes, Colonel John Sheppard was asleep.

A faint voice awakened him. He first thought he was dreaming, but as he pulled himself from a deep sleep, he realized it was Carter, speaking through his COM. "Colonel, can you hear me?"

Sitting up, he answered drowsily, "I'm here, colonel; everything okay?" He glanced at his watch; it was 1925 hours.

"Yes, everything's fine, colonel; I need for you to report to the mess hall, please, and now. Also, it will sound like a strange request, but change into civilian clothes, John; I have a surprise. Carter out."

Sheppard sat on the side of the bed for a few moments, very confused. He muttered, "Did she just tell me to wear civilian clothes? " Shaking his head, he rose, sighing, "Yeah; she did. What the hell does Carter have in mind?"

After changing into jeans, a t-shirt, and pulling on a red-plaid shirt, Sheppard headed for the mess hall. When he stepped off the transporter, he was surprised to see the entrance to the dining area hidden by canvas drop cloths used to cover cargo. Carter, Lorne, and Zelenka were waiting for him.

"Colonel, what's going on?"

"Come with me, John," She turned as Lorne and Zelenka pulled the canvas apart. Sheppard followed her into the dining area, coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of the mess hall.

Carter laughed, "You like it?"

Sheppard looked around the room; large plants filled nearly every available space, a large mural of a beach scene with a huge sun beaming down, painted on another canvas cloth, covered one wall. The tables all had vases of colorful flowers sitting on them, and against the wall, mess personnel were setting out burgers and hot dogs and other food. On one serving table, an extremely large stainless steel bowl was being filled with something pink. From the speakers around the room, the calypso sounds of Jimmy Buffett filled the room.

"Sam, I've said it before, you never cease to amaze me."

"You were right, colonel; what we were doing to alleviate the boredom and stress from the rain and inactivity wasn't enough. Everyone, including us, needs to chill a bit. So, the best way I can think of is let everyone break out of their normal duties and party."

"You are a smart woman, Colonel Carter."

"You just noticing that, Colonel Sheppard?" She laughed as Sheppard looked a bit sheepish, "Well, thanks to the wonderful distilling abilities of Dr. Zelenka and the addition of cranberry juice, which the mess, fortunately, over-ordered, we have a punch that packs a wallop. Our resident artist, Major Lorne painted the mural on very short notice, and Dr. Parrish cleared out the Botany greenhouse to give the mess a bit of a tropical feel."

Sheppard looked at the mural again, "You painted that Lorne?" When the major nodded, smiling, Sheppard continued, "I thought you were a better artist than that." Lorne's face fell but Sheppard's wide grin quickly told Lorne he was kidding.

"By the way, John, Keller and Beckett have determined the unknown pathogen is not a pathogen for us. Gate activity is hereby authorized; however, I suspect we might want to belay that order for another twenty-four hours. I doubt there will be too many people feeling like going on missions tomorrow. " Sheppard nodded, and Sam continued, "Time to invite everyone to the party."

Carter tapped her COM, telling Chuck to patch her into a base wide frequency. As she announced for all base personnel to report to the mess, in civilian clothes, Sheppard walked over to the window. The rain was still beating against Atlantis, sheets of water flowing down the window. However, inside it was warm, almost sunny, and soon, everyone would be in a much better mood. Good food and good music, along with good drink could always change the mood. He smiled looking at Carter as she sipped on a glass of Zelenka's brew, add a good commanding officer to that list, and they had the solution to a rainy day.


End file.
